Osmond Cordae Locke
Osmond Cordae Locke is a paladin who wants to promote the cause of Good. He's currently traveling in Libaterra. He is the husband of Aegle Locke and father of Lucius Locke. Biography Early Years Leaving Home Osmond Cordae Locke was born in Aison, in the city of Myridia specifically. He lived a fairly normal childhood, though his father left during the last stages of the Great War. He was instilled with the values of fairness and do unto others what you would have them do to you as he grew up. His father, Oscar Locke, practiced that to the best of his ability, and was well-loved by the populace. His superiors were more keen to put him on a leash than sing his praises. After Oscar left, he was never seen nor heard from again. Then, one day, something enormous was seen flying their way on the horizon. Osmond's mother Melana Locke panicked (and was vindicated for it later) and left, taking her son, some spare weapons, packed clothes, and a wrapped bundle, and caught a ride with a departing caravan. They had had mere moments to spare. Slowly, Osmond accepted his father's death, becoming something of a guard for the caravan and honoring his father's memory through his use of fairness and the Golden Rule. It won him many friends among the other travelers, and some enemies among the greedier of them. The caravan reached a small port, and though Osmond and Melana left the caravan to travel by sea to Remon, the ship got lost at sea and somehow found its way to Libaterra. Word had by then reached them of the Godslayer and its rampages in Kageshima and Myridia. The fishing village was not their last stop, however. Osmond's mother took him further inland, closer to the City of Mages. At last, they stopped in a trader's town about a day or two away from Reign. The sixteen-year-old needed a place to grow up and call home, and they'd been on the move for two years. It was time to stop again. So they took up residence in the town, slowly building one there. Finding a Purpose Three years later, as a young adult, it was time for Osmond to grasp his inheritance. Melana drew him aside and pulled out the mysterious wrapped bundle she'd carried for years. He looked confused, but she told him, "This was your father's, and it is your last inheritance from him. He had a foreboding feeling that he wouldn't come back from the War, and so he left it with us, to pass on to you when the time came. I think you're ready to receive this now." It was long, and by the heft, Osmond could tell it was a sword. He took the cloth away from it, and immediately was left in moderate disappointment. It looked like any other hand-and-a-half. The sheath was pretty worn down, and the finishing was dull and scratched on it. The hilt looked nice and sturdy enough, but he began to wonder about the blade. Any notches? Still, it was his father's. That, more than anything, urged him to grip the hilt and remove it from the sheath. It almost glowed, and he noticed old and unknown runes running up and down the blade on both sides. The blade itself was nearly perfect. Honed to a good edge and smooth as silk, it was far, far better than he expected of such an old sword. He had attended the Church of the Memory of Cardia that had been converted from the old Clergy of Cardia ever since he'd moved in, and had been interested in being a paladin for the church for a while. The small group of paladins gladly accepted him and gave him the armor of the rank, while he provided the sword. He worked alongside the other six of them to protect the village from all threats. More recently, Osmond and a woman named Aegle fell in love. He presented her with his mother's wedding ring, and they were soon married and living in a house of their own. Osmond worked all the harder at his job as a paladin because of his radiant wife. Her belly swelled with child, and quickly enough, the paladin became a father. His strong connection to the church and his wife's own name inspired him to name the child Lucius. Osmond was drawn into the study of the recorded prophecies in the little libraries of the church. He looked through the oldest ones until the day he found a scrap of parchment that had recorded an old, old prophecy. He mounted his trusty stallion Chadwick and left to find someone who could help him interpret it after no one in the town could, bidding his wife and infant son goodbye. He was bade in turn to not stay away for too long. Godslayer Era Heart of Darkness While on his way to Trinity Gask where he hoped he could decipher the prophecy, Osmond happened upon a scarred woman. The two introduced themselves, and he learned the woman's name, Ax. After a brief discussion, Osmond proposed that since they were both headed for the same direction, they could travel together. Ax seemed hesitant but eventually agreed, and she asked if Osmond could help locate a stream so that some skins could be filled with water. After Osmond had located a good spot to fill the skins with water, he returned to Ax to give the skins back to her. Asking for the sake of the donkey, Osmond told Ax where he'd found the stream. Before she left, though, he asked the others in the camp for any help in deciphering a prophetic set of words he had found in a book: When the Fruit of Earth and Tree passes into Darkness's Doorstep to meet the Seven Spawn of Hell When the Redeemed stand beside He Who Shines to summon the Spirit of the Mother and the Last Memories of Order The Red Lion will make peace Seven Darknesses will betray their comrades A City of Mages stands content Darkness breathes free of Death. Arcturius heard them, and tried to decipher it, up until the last stanza, at which point his suspicion was aroused. Ax helped as well before leaving with the donkey. Os tried to get Arc to be less suspicious, but whatever had happened to the boy kept him distrustful, and he left with Ax. Osmond later followed them to ask about Corwin's book, but was distracted when he heard Corwin's odd shout about Magic Mushrooms and not taking them for at least a week. When he got back he saw three nymphs. When asked, Corwin said that 'no funny business went on under that tree,' out from under which the nymphs were approaching. Then he started ranting about murderous mountain goats. Osmond had no idea how he got into this situation (three nymphs wanting him, Corwin, and Arc, the unlikely but possible threat of murderous mountain goats, and whether or not to move camp to the town of Lawfin) and no idea how to get out of it. Soon after he began his pondering, however, the nymphs pounced on him and held him down. Thankfully, Ax kept him from being raped, and soon after Corwin gassed all three with an alchemical compound. However, at just that moment, the minions of the absent Goatse decided to attack. Osmond set the unconscious nymphs in the wagon and readied himself and his stallion Chadwick for the onslaught, but soon after, Arcturius used some bardic magic to conjure up a nightmarish image of the Reaper. This held the intelligent goats at bay while Ax hitched her ass to the wagon. Once done, Osmond held off the goats while the wagon got out of the wood. He caught up to the wagon as it reached the gates of Lawfin and entered the elven town with the rest of the party. After stabling his horse and securing a room for the night, Osmond tried to order Paladin's Balm but was mistakenly written down for a Paladin's Breath. He failed to correct the waitress in time and the drink was delivered as ordered. Tipsy after less than half a glass of the strong drink, Osmond retired to his room, where he challenged the glass to a duel. Last one standing once he'd drained it would be the winner. It was the glass. After rising to throw up out his window, he had a strange dream in the night. He couldn't recall it when he awoke, but he realized that he'd lost to the cup in his self-declared contest. It was then that Arcturius knocked on the wall, asking for his help. Osmond tried to get rid of the hangover feeling in a percussive manner, but it didn't seem to do much. Osmond accepted Arcturius's request to train him to use a sword and purified his own blood of alcohol before putting his armor back on and beginning the training. He taught Arc a defensive stance, how and when to block, and when to dodge or parry instead. At last, however, he decided he was too tired to continue teaching the lessons for now. He put the sword back up, and fell asleep. Despair's Wake Osmond got dressed, put the two nymphs that shared his room in the wagon and then offered to buy breakfast for everybody. After eating and leaving Lawfin, the group dropped off the nymphs near the forest outside Trinity Gask, with Corwin almost vehemently shooing them away while Os looked on perplexed. At last, they arrived in Trinity Gask, dropping Corwin and his elven friend off at the Witch Elves inn. Osmond promised to meet Arcturius for more swordfighting lessons in front of the inn, stabled Chadwick and wandered through the city for hours. He finally found himself in the midst of an abandoned slum and chased by a mob of poor after him for his fine-looking armor and sword. Just as he was about to get found, he fell through a hole that opened up in the ground of the alley. For a time, Osmond passed out. When he awakened, he found he was in a large chamber underground, barely lit by the hole he'd fallen through. He began to explore his surroundings, and from a dated, dusty old letter deduced that he was in an area that had been relatively untouched since the Second Age, more than a thousand years. Continuing his exploration, he came across a glowing sword set in front of a skeleton. The skeleton had a broken-off piece of a blade through its ribcage, likely having died to someone or something. The sword was glowing orange, as if heated in a nonexistant fire. The paladin grabbed the hilt, curious. However, the blade began to burn him until Osmond accidentally struck it with his own sword. The fire sword stopped burning him, and instead greeted Osmond inside his mind. When he spoke his name, the blade named him the heir of 'Fotiacles Firemaster,' and gave up the power it had held within it to Osmond. Most of that power was placed into the Oath of Order, which began glowing golden. When he sheathed both swords, he noticed that his skin was glowing. The paladin was then surprised by an old man holding a lantern, who called him 'he who shines.' His mind flashed briefly to the prophecy he'd found, and when beckoned, decided to follow along. The man had welcomed him to the sanctuaries of the clergies of Gaea and Heath. The man, whose name was Raphael, explained their purpose and some of their history. Times had come during which they could have resurrected Gaea, but considering that they intended to sacrifice themselves down to their very souls, they needed a guardian, one who could guide their lady back to her status as a deity. So they had pleaded with what gods would listen to them, excepting Death, who they intended to cheat. Heath reluctantly sent a vision to the 'High Cleric' at the time of a shining man holding a sword glowing golden. Aliases and Nicknames ; Osmond : What he is called. ; Os : A common nickname. Anyone that says he has or is a wizard gets punched. Appearance Tall, strong, and handsome, with striking scars from recent battles he's had with bandits. His hair shines like polished wooden banisters, crowning a strong brow, under which is a straight nose, green eyes, and very dull-colored lips. He stands at 6'2". As a knight, he wears white armor that he prefers to keep immaculately clean, though it has been roughed up, and a cream colored cloak. His sword is worn on his right hip. His shield is worn on his right arm in combat, but on his back when not. Personality and Traits Osmond sees the world in a less than pure light. He feels that it needs to be cleansed of the gods of darkness's influence, let the darkness and its chaos out and let the light make things flourish. Yet, he finds children, chaos in human form, to be the symbols of purity. His own child, Lucius, reminds him of that every day. His wife Aegle is precious to him, the light of his day. The reason for his being aside from his infant son. Her name means 'radiance,' and though her dark hair contrasts, he never fails to see it. Osmond is cheery and dutiful on the job, willing to do things for others. He never judges, and though he might keep an open mind, he often subconciously gets a mental image of the aspects of others, which can often be proven wrong. Powers and Abilities He's skilled in the use of a sword and shield, and has a rudimentary grasp on white magic spells regarding shields, illusions, and healing. Biggest thing he's ever healed was a small knife cut, his illusions are translucent, and his shields are gone in one hit, so he has a ways to go. He's recently deduced that he's healed a bigger wound than the knife cut previous and made one of his shields last for multiple hits. Progress. However, both spells of such were immensely more draining than his normal ones. Relationships Aegle Locke His beloved wife of five years. Osmond wishes to return to his wife quickly, believing his quest for an interpretation to be a short matter. When he thinks on her, however, he feels an uneasy foreboding feeling. Arcturius Arc is suspicious of Os, which perplexes him greatly. After all, he's, what, fourteen? It has something to do with prophecies, it seems like. And trust. Osmond was thus surprised when Arc admitted that he was glad the paladin was alright. Osmond is starting to see him more as a good-hearted teenager, though it is just a start. Now that the bard is Osmond's student in swordsmanship, he is trying to be a good mentor to him, teaching him what he knows. Axikasha Keiran Not much interaction between these two, although he made her somewhat flustered with his show of chivalry at their introduction. Corwin Finian The two seem to get along well enough, although Osmond's lack of experience when dealing with strange monsters is apparent when they come up. The shaman seems not to trust Osmond, leaving the paladin confused. Lucius Locke His four year old son. The light of Osmond's world. He's proved to be a young rascal, though not in a bad way. Just the way that involves mud-spattered clothes after a hard day's play. Osmond wishes to see him again soon, but when he thinks that, an anxiousness plays upon his heart. See also *Aegle Locke *Arcturius *Axikasha Keiran *Chadwick *Corwin Finian *Lucius Locke Category:Characters Category:Church of the Memory of Cardia Category:Humans Category:Libaterra Category:Third Age